State health chief says criminal probe in Flint has 'chilling effect' in Lansing

Gov. Rick Snyder speaks as Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services looks on in this January 2016 MLive file photo.

(MLive file photo)

The chief of Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services says Attorney General Bill Schuette's Flint water crisis investigation has had a "chilling effect" on state government employees, according to a report in Crain's Detroit Business.

DHHS Director Nick Lyon, who earlier this month was identified as a target of the criminal investigation, told the Michigan Association of Mental Health Boards this week that the water crisis has taken a toll on himself and state government workers, the report says.

Lyon's comments marked the first time since he was identified as a focus of the attorney general's investigation that he's spoken publicly about the probe.

The DHHS director told the association that 2016 has been "a pretty tough year" for a number of reasons, including Flint, according to Crain's.

In describing how the state's criminal investigation has effected others, Lyon said it's had a "chilling effect."

"Decisions they make are judgement calls done with sometimes limited information -- many times following every rule in front of them," Crain's quoted Lyon as saying. "I tell my staff, quite simply, do your job for the people you serve, and I will have your back."

An attorney for Lyon told MLive-The Flint Journal this week that his client received a subpoena for a felony criminal case that names him as a target in the criminal investigation.

Despite the subpoena, Lyon has not been charged with a crime.

Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, declined to comment on Lyon's remarks.

Lyon has been director of the DHHS since April 10, 2015, moving into the top job at the agency just months after Gov. Rick Snyder merged the Department of Human Services and the Department of Community Health to form it.

He has acknowledged that the agency became aware of a spike in Legionnaires' disease cases in Genesee County, including Flint, in 2014 -- the same time the city changed its water source to the Flint River.

Health officials have said they waited nearly 18 months before telling Gov. Rick Snyder about the outbreak, which DHHS officials have said may or may not be related to the city's change in water source.